On this Veterans Day, CitizenPath recognizes the contributions of immigrants that have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Share these immigration quotes from great Americans.

“Dear America, I am an Arab American, but a proud American just like you (…) On that dreadful day, September 11th, my duffel bag was already packed and I was waiting to answer the call of duty. Why was I ready? I also want a better and safer America just like you. When it comes to patriotism and loyalty, I am red, white and blue, just like you.”Sergeant Mahmoud El-Yousef in an open letter to American news outlets, February 2007

CitizenPath is proud to support the third annual Immigrant Heritage Month this June. Immigrant Heritage Month celebrates a United States that is fueled by immigrants from around the world and the honors ways in which America and the immigrants who have built our country are linked in a shared, productive history. Continue reading →

Memorial Day originated at the end of the Civil War in Charleston, S.C. when former slaves organized a day to honor Union prisoners of war who had died in a racecourse used to incarcerate them. Over the coming years the tens of thousands of graves of Union soldiers buried in the South would be tended every year on Memorial Day by freedmen and freedwomen. The graves were despised by many Southern whites who saw the Union soldiers as invaders, but for the African Americans the Union soldiers were liberators who had ended slavery.

A quarter of those soldiers’ graves belonged to immigrants. Immigrants had made up half of the professional soldiers in the United States army before the war, and nearly half-a-million served in the Union army. Continue reading →

Better economic prosperity, religious freedom and social unrest are just a few of the factors that drive immigration. These are major reasons the United States continues to be a popular destination for migrants.

However, you may be surprised by other countries with the most immigrants. According to data provided by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA), 244 million people (3.3 percent of the world’s population) lived abroad in 2015. That’s an increase of 71 million since 2000.

The green card, which only until recently became green again, has a history with a variety of names and colors. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officially refers to it as the Permanent Resident Card. However, it has also been known over time as a Resident Alien Card or Alien Registration Receipt Card. You may even notice that USCIS labels it as Form I-551. In fact, the history of the green card is very colorful. Continue reading →

In 2013, a record 2,999 Americans chose to renounce US citizenship, and 2014 looks to be no different. Based on the numbers from the first three quarters, the 2014 number will grow even larger.

But that’s not all. According to a survey by deVere Group, an independent financial advisory organization, a staggering 73% of Americans abroad are tempted to give up their US passports. With an estimated 7.6 million Americans living abroad, that translates to approximately 5.5 million Americans re-assessing the value of US citizenship.

Known formally as renunciation of citizenship, it is the act of voluntarily giving up citizenship in a country. Citizens of a country may renounce citizenship as a way of expressing philosophical differences, avoiding mandatory military service, becoming asylees or avoiding obligations of tax laws. There are a variety of reasons.

This Thanksgiving as you debate President Obama’s recent executive action on immigration at the dinner table, take a moment to thank an immigrant.

Immigration reform may have many Americans divided, but we should all agree on this – immigrants have given back to America in spades. Immigrant contributions to this country are endless. For over two hundred years, immigrants’ contributions have helped shape the United States into what it is today. Let’s give thanks. Continue reading →

Many critics have questioned the president’s authority to use executive action to provide immigration relief for millions of undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States. Last month hundreds of law professors and scholars signed a letter that stated their belief that executive action would be within the legal authority of a U.S. president. Now a recently released report from the American Immigration Council outlines the long history of executive grants of temporary immigration relief from 1956 to the present.

The report demonstrates that every U.S. president since at least 1956 has granted temporary immigration relief of some form. Continue reading →

No doubt. It is confusing and perplexing. Some might even find it upsetting. Many don’t understand why Hispanic is not a race on USCIS applications.

When preparing USCIS immigration forms, such as Form I-821D for DACA and N-400 for naturalization, applicants are asked about ethnicity and race. But many applicants are stumped when asked to select a race. The list (sample image below) of races includes: Continue reading →